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If Americans really do eat 100 acres of pizza every day, then the Columbus area must be doing
its part because the number of pizzerias continues to grow.

Marco’s Pizza plans to open at least 10 pizzerias in the Columbus area over the next two years,
creating about 300 jobs, said David Knoles, area representative for the Toledo-based pizza
restaurant franchiser.

Knoles and his partners expect to open three more in central Ohio within the next six months: at
5304 N. Hamilton Rd., in the Reed-Henderson roads area and on Sawmill Road in the Powell area.
Leases for the latter locations are pending.

Knoles most recently opened 20 Marco’s Pizza stores in Cincinnati, but indicates he has higher
hopes for the central Ohio region.

“Columbus has more going for it than Cincinnati does,” said Knoles, a 30-year pizza-store
veteran who moved to Cincinnati in 2008 — the beginning of the Great Recession — to develop the
Marco’s market there. “Columbus didn’t take as hard of a hit as the rest of the state did. Why not
do this in Columbus?”

Marco’s, which already has five local stores, belongs to an increasingly crowded market
dominated by Columbus-born Donatos and populated with regional chains and mom-and-pop pizza shops
in addition to the Big Four: Pizza Hut, Domino’s, Papa John’s and Little Caesars.

The Toledo chain is on a national roll, opening more than 100 stores last year and planning to
open 200 this year, Knoles said.

What distinguishes Marco’s pizza from its competitors, he said, is a blend of three never-frozen
cheeses and a sauce created by company founder Pasquale “Pat” Giammarco.

Italian immigrant Giammarco opened his first Marco’s Pizza in Toledo in 1978. The company and
its franchisees own more than 340 stores in 30 states, Panama and the Bahamas.